New England, Old Friends. (Old?) England, New Friends.

Considering I'll be living in England for the next 4 months, I made it my mission this summer to appreciate my own city, Washington D.C., as much as possible before my departure across the pond.

I've been sweating it out (literally and figuratively) working and interning in the sauna that is the District of Columbia in the summer time. But I was in need of a quick break from city life. So a dose of sunshine and a face full of new freckles sounded like an excellent solution...to the beach it was! For those of you who don't know, Washington D.C. does not have a beach, so I made the trip up to New England for an all-American weekend (yes, the irony).

However, I didn't just pop up to New England for the sole purpose of being there. No, no. There was a much more important reason. I was visiting two very special friends who I go way way back with: Hanna and Kara. Okay, so they've known each other pretty much since birth and I was late to the party when I started school with them in third grade, but let's not talk about that because it's a sore subject for me.

We have the kind of friendship that takes years to establish itself. It's versatile and it's timeless. We're actually quite different from one another, but those differences have always seemed to complement each other effortlessly. Not to mention that their parents are pretty great...second to my own of course (don't worry Mom and Dad)!

I grew up as a Third Culture Kid, so the prospect of moving around has never been too daunting nor has it been a be-all, end-all deal breaker for any of my friendships. What I haven’t gotten the hang of- despite my transient lifestyle- is how to pack light. I’m good at packing light for a weekend or a week, but when it came to packing for my semester abroad I simply could not pack light. My room was an explosion of clothes semi-packed into suitcases for more than a week, yet I never finished fully packing until it was three hours before I needed to leave for the airport.

It’s strange not being back at school with the rest of my friends as we start our senior year. Even though I’m looking forward to my semester abroad, I can’t help but feel like I’m uprooting myself and leaving a good thing behind. I feel like my packing mannerisms align with my sentiments about starting this next semester. Right now my thoughts and emotions are scattered- I’m apprehensive yet self-assured; I’m excited but not too excited; I’m prepared but I also feel unprepared. In the end I know it will all come together at the last possible minute and it will feel right in the most unsettlingly imperfect way. But until then I wish any feelings of reassurance would chivvy along!